Tamarack Lodge auctioned for $20K plus back taxes

GREENFIELD PARK — After years of legal wrangling, the former Tamarack Lodge in the Town of Wawarsing finally has been sold.

Pauline Liu

GREENFIELD PARK — After years of legal wrangling, the former Tamarack Lodge in the Town of Wawarsing finally has been sold.

The 250-acre property, owned by the Western Mohegan Tribe and Nation, went for $20,000 at auction Monday.

The new owner, Ulster Acquisition, will be responsible for more than $400,000 in back taxes the tribe owed to the county and town. "The municipal tax liens continue with the property," said Adam Mandell, a lawyer representing the county and Sheriff's Office at the sale.

Mandell said Ulster Acquisition was the sole bidder at the sale. The company is represented by the same Park Avenue law firm that formerly represented the Greenfield Park-based tribe.

The law firm sued the tribe and forced the sale of the property in an effort to recover more than $235,000 in unpaid fees. The tribe went to court twice to block the property from being put up for auction in 2011 and 2012. Neither Barton Nachamie, a partner in the law firm, nor Ron Roberts, chief of the Western Mohegan Tribe, returned calls for comment. It is unclear what the new owners plan for the site.

The Tamarack Lodge was shut down by the Ulster County Health Department in April 2000 for numerous violations. The tribe purchased the resort from the county in July 2001 in hopes of turning it into a casino, but was unsuccessful in getting the federal government to recognize it as an official Indian nation.

According to Town of Wawarsing officials, dozens of buildings on the property were destroyed by alleged arson last year, while others have fallen into disrepair.

"We've been sitting on the edge of our seats over this property, waiting for it to be cleaned up," said building inspector Bryant Arms. "There are 23 small bungalows that are uninhabitable and need to be demolished."

Arms said he is also "99 percent sure that there is asbestos contamination" on the property as a result of the blaze, which will need to be cleaned up.

Assessor Michael Summer said most buildings date to the 1960s, though the tribe built a 6,000-square-foot museum in 2007; there's also a four-unit townhouse built in 1988. Arms said several tribe members live in the townhouse and soon could face eviction. The new owner has until Feb. 22 to pay the back taxes.